By Monteque Pope-Le Beau

Director Alonso Llosa’s tragicomedy La Restauración will have its World Premiere at the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. La Restauración is a poignant cautionary tale about excess, greed, disillusionment and elitism. The story takes place in a period of rapid urban growth in Peru when money is flowing freely allowing those who were once unable to graduate to the elite social class. The cost of all the advancement is the demolishing of the grand houses of Peru’s gilded age to make room for the new high-rises that are popping up. While some of the Peruvian aristocrats find it hard to hold onto their traditions and beliefs.

Tato, played by (Paul Vega) a 51 year old selfish, down on his luck cocaine user who is forced to move back home with his mother during his divorce. His mother played by (Attilia Boschetti) a sickly bed ridden aristocrat who does not know that she is no longer wealthy. This reality is kept away from her by her loyal house servants played by (Fernando Añanos, and Muki Sabogal). Tato’s mother is constantly putting him down and making him feel worthless while looking down upon the new up and coming society she no longer belongs to. Desperate for fix to his situation and funds Tato hatches the most unthinkable scheme to sell his mother’s house right out from under her without her knowing. In doing so he is forced to go out in the middle of nowhere to re-create her room so that she believes that she is still in her house. His diabolical plan becomes a comedy of errors and heartache forcing him to face the person he truly is and destroying the illusion of the person he so desperately wants to be.

La Restauración is brilliantly done and heartfelt. The core of the film brings up the all too familiar emotional impact of family relationships and it ask the question what makes a family? Is loyalty enough to sustain the health of the family or is there more needed to see it through the dark times? This is a film that is both entertaining and sobering . A must see, but don’t forget the handkerchief!

“Using humor and a fun, dynamic plot, I’d like to invite our audience to question the meaning of “family” and “home” and how socio-economic shifts can influence these meanings; above all, I’d like to remind us that we are all capable of rediscovering our humanity and experiencing honest connections, no matter how hard we may have fallen.” Director Alonso Llosa

La Restauración will screen on Thursday, January 16; 2:20PM, at the Metro 2, on Friday, January 17, 6:00PM at the Metro 4 Saturday, and on January 18, 11:20AM at the Metro 2 for tickets go here https://sbiff.org

LA RESTAURACIÓN

Genre: Comedy

Running Time: 93 Minutes

Rating: NR

Language: Spanish with English Subtitles

Web and Social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaRestauracion_

Facebook: www.facebook.com/larestauracionfilm

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/larestauracionfilm

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8552008

Hashtag – #larestauracionfilm